Spatial analysis of telecommunications towers and their environmental impact in the city of Al-Abbasiya, Iraq

The current study investigated the geographical distribution of mobile phone masts and evaluated residential radiofrequency (RF) exposure in 30 homes located across Al-Abbasiya district, Iraq. Measurements in the field were performed to measure RF power density levels and to see if the exposure would comply with international public exposure limits recommended for general public by International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP (2020)), based on typical mobile communication frequency band a reference level of 4,500,000 uW/m2 was defined. The measured RF power density was from 85 µW/m² to 1420 µW/m², and the mean of total measurement was 684.83 ± 403.58µW/m², which suggests moderate spatial variability within residential areas. At 100 meters proximity, the levels of average domestic exposure were 1,153 µW/m² for houses less than 100m from base stations (n=104) to compare with those that dwelt more than 100–300 meters away =688.5 µW/m² (n=179), and to dwellings located beyond a distance of 300 meters =213 µW/m² (n=645) approximately an equal reduction of around by ~81.5%. The highest measured value (1,420 µW/m²) is 0.0316% of ICNIRP reference level for occupational exposure (4,500,000 µW/m²) and the mean exposure represents 0.0152% against an international standard. The resultant Hazard Quotient values were between 0.000019 to 0.000316, which were far below the safe limit of <1. The Safety Margin Index varied from 3,169 to 52,941 times below the international standard, indicating that there was an important reserve in protection. The quantitative results indicate complete conformity to the international limits of exposure for radiation protection and residential RF levels in the studied area are categorized as Very Low Risk level.